ADRIAN — Plans to tear down the former Daily Telegram office and several other dilapidated buildings on North Winter Street took a step forward on April 7 when the Adrian City Commission awarded bids for the demolition.
The project was split into two parts for bidding.
The contract for the buildings on the west side of the street (133, 155, 205 and 213 N. Winter St.) was awarded to RJ Industrial Recycling of Flint in the amount of $270,760. RJ Industrial is the company that handled the recently completed Bixby Hospital demolition. They were not the lowest bidder, but according to a memo from code enforcement officer Glenn Preston, reference checks for the lowest bidder did not indicate satisfactory performance.
The contract for the buildings on the east side of the street (132 and 142 N. Winter St.) was awarded to Handy Excavating of Quincy in the amount of $44,500. Handy Excavating, which has previously demolished 26 houses for the city, was the low bidder for that portion of the project.
Eleven contractors bid on the project.
The former Telegram office at 133 N. Winter St., along with the Access Shoppers Guide building and the old Adrian Eagles hall just north of it, were sold by Gannett, the Telegram’s parent company, in 2021. Initially, a private development group bought the properties as part of a plan to rehabilitate the riverfront area along Winter Street. But they encountered numerous obstacles, and the city agreed to purchase the land in 2024.
